The entry room was 35 feet wide and 21 feet deep. There were ten steps leading up to it, with a column on each side.
Parallel translations
- WEB The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the width eleven cubits; even by the steps by which they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.
- KJV The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.
- BSB The portico was twenty cubits wide and twelve cubits deep, and ten steps led up to it. There were columns by the side pillars, one on each side.
- NKJV The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the width eleven cubits; and by the steps which led up to it there were pillars by the doorposts, one on this side and another on that side.
- NASB The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the width eleven cubits; and at the stairway by which it was ascended were columns belonging to the side pillars, one on each side.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The porch was twenty cubits long with steps and pillars leading up to it. The temple stands elevated, approached with deliberate ascent.
Overview
The measured porch, reached by steps and flanked by pillars (recalling Jachin and Boaz, 1 Kings 7:21), forms a dignified entrance to the house. The ascent emphasizes that drawing near to God is a sacred movement upward. It points to the exalted access we have in Christ, by whom we come to the Father (John 14:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ezek 40:31The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts: and the ascent to it had eight steps.
- 1 Kgs 7:15–21For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them.
- Ezek 40:37The posts of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.
- Rev 3:12He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.
- Jer 52:17–23The Chaldeans broke the pillars of brass that were in Yahweh’s house, and the bases and the bronze sea that were in Yahweh’s house in pieces, and carried all of their brass to Babylon.
- 2 Chr 3:17He set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.
- Ezek 40:34The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.
- 1 Kgs 6:3The porch in front of the temple of the house had a length of twenty cubits, which was along the width of the house. Ten cubits was its width in front of the house.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 40:49 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.